


(Trying to) Distract

by StrandsofNehn



Series: Viola Shepard [2]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Mwahaha, and regretting all those calibrations, garrus being cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-30 06:24:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12647934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrandsofNehn/pseuds/StrandsofNehn
Summary: Shepard likes to indulge in petty revenge whenever she can. Especially when it comes with the added bonus of a flummoxed Garrus.





	(Trying to) Distract

**Author's Note:**

> #19 For Shakarian: kisses meant to distract the other person from whatever they were intently doing

She’s supposed to be drafting up her report on the last mission: a little jaunt down to a fire-planet (because there never enough of those) and retrieval of resources there. Nothing fancy happened. Sure, the vehicle caught fire a few times but no one _died_.

Maybe she should just put that down and be done with it.

“I must not be good at this yet,” Garrus starts, “if you’re not even slightly distracted.”

Shepard laughs and presses back into the increasingly familiar frame of turian male behind her. The hard planes of his plates not flexible like human skin but still warm and inviting against her shoulder-blades.

Garrus lifts his head from her neck, where he’s been nuzzling and purring some sub-harmonic melody that makes her skin and head fuzzy, to accommodate her, arms tightening around her waist.

“You would have better luck trying a light nip or two with all that purring,” she tells him, a smile tugging more and more at her lips.

It’s different than being with a human, being with him. In ways that are subtle and not so subtle. Like figuring out general arousal areas and then which are his. (Not all humans are the same, it’s unsurprising that turians aren’t either.) Or riddling out how to spoon in a way comfortable for both parties involved. Or just, where to keep certain, ahem, items in her cabin for easy access for them both and fewer questions.

“Nip? Shepard, have you seen my teeth? I don’t think turians are quite equipped to try that on humans. Not at least if you don’t want to draw blood.”

“So be gentle.”

They’re sitting on her bed, where they always sit together (unless there is more bad wine) his legs on either side of her hips, front flush with her back. Her hips are a little too wide but, it works.

Garrus only snorts.

“What were you even doing?” she asks instead, laughing a bit and putting down the incredibly half-assed report.

“It’s sort of like your human kisses?”

  
“The nuzzling? Well, I guess if you don’t have lips…”

“In part. It’s more the sound. The vibrations through plates from the…”

“Purring?”

“If that’s what you want to call it, yeah.”

  
She thinks for a moment. “I like it. Let’s call it that.”

“Great.”

Shepard smiles to herself, at the dead-pan of Garrus’ voice.

“Really regretting all those times you blew me off for calibrations, now, aren’t you?”

“Yea– wait.” Garrus shifts her to the side, looks down at her. “Are you saying you’ve been ignoring me because of that?”

Shepard makes a show of shrugging, of nonchalance. “I don’t know what you mean. This report about materials gathering on a hellscape lava-rock where dreams and Anakin Skywalker’s face go to burn and die is taking all my brainpower to write. It’s highly involved stuff, you know.”

“I don’t know who that is but I take it it’s a reference to some human thing.”

“Very important human thing.”

“I’ll look into it later, then.”

“Good.”

“I’m sorry, Shepard. For the calibrations.”

She smiles, and it may be Garrus’ favorite human gesture. “Don’t be. That gun was damn sexy slicing into those Collector assholes.”

He snorts, but flares his mandibles in satisfaction, “Only the best for you, Shepard.”

She smiles again and runs her hands along his face. The way she’s looking at him seems pointed, but Garrus is pretty sure he’s imagining it. Humans have strange faces.

“Yeah,” he says again. “Does that mean that the purring was distracting?”

Shepard smiles and shuffles to her knees. Garrus lets her go and she turns to face him.

“I thought it was very distracting,” she tells him lowly. “The vibrations sent all the nerves from my ear down my spine buzzing.”

“And buzzing is…?”

“Buzzing is good,” she assures him and places a kiss on his mandible. “Very good.”

He gets that look again. That smug and satisfied and a little bit mystified one. Like he can’t quite believe that things are working out. “So… I should continue?”

“Or progress into something else…?”

He tenses pleasantly beneath her, hands coming up to her hips. “I thought you had a report.”

“Report for who? We aren’t reporting to anyone currently,” she says. “Cerberus is gone. The Alliance is… well. The Alliance is. But, we’re not there yet.”

“One last mission,” Garrus agrees, thinking back to when Shepard told him she had one last thing to do and then that was it. She was turning herself in. Spirits, he didn’t want her to.

“Yeah,” she breathes and closes in on him, face hovering a little higher than his, eyes heavy lidded and full of too many things for Garrus to sort through.

“One last time.”

The way she says it makes him look at her, to take in her face and obvious anguish, the need he’s already learned to see in her.

“Come here, then.”

Shepard gives him a sad, thankful smile and leans in the rest of the way. He holds her and soon they’re losing themselves in a new sort of teamwork with steps and glances and signals all made better with practice and time. He has to be thankful for that. They both do.

Her human kisses are soft and sweet, affection brimming in each one and thus treasured. He tries to reciprocate in kind. So far– so far it’s gone right. Garrus can make this right for her for one last night.


End file.
